Michel Shah is the Founder and President of UpSkill. She is an experienced inclusive, entrepreneurial leader, master facilitator and coach with a Canadian and international track record of leadership and community development in government, non-profit, for profit enterprises and at every level of education.

Michel works with leaders and organizations to accurately assess the current state of affairs, set meaningful goals, design customized programs to meet the unique needs of leaders at every level. Then she collaborates to support change management, implement new approaches and sustainable inclusive practices.

Michel holds a Master’s Degree in Gender and Social Policy from the Gender and Social Policy Institutes atthe London School of Economics, UK. Her research focused on the impact of gendered social andeconomic policies on women.

She holds an honours Bachelor of Arts with distinction from the University of Toronto and a GraduateTeacher Certificate from the University of Kingston.

She is currently pursuing the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership with a focus on OrganizationalImprovement through inclusive leadership at Western University.

She is a Project Management Professional PMP®, Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP)™,Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach (EQ-i 2.0), Certified Life Styles Inventory™ Coach (LSI) and CertifiedSOAR™ Coach (Proprietary).

She is the Program Director of the Masters Certificate in Leadership at Schulich ExecEd, York University, Professor at George Brown College and member of the board of directors of the Canadian AccreditedIndependent Schools.

She is a sought after consultant, speaker and facilitator for Inclusive Leadership who takes pride inunpacking complex issues using relatable stories and a practical approach that inspires greaterawareness, motivation and action.

Tim Kiladze is a financial reporter and columnist for The Globe and Mail. 

Tim joined the Globe in 2010 and initially wrote for Streetwise, a capital markets vertical, but now covers many facets of Bay Street and government finance. His current writing includes columns, profiles and features that explore investment trends, alleged frauds and power— who has it and who wants it. 

Tim has been nominated for three National Newspaper Awards — for coverage of BlackBerry’s demise, the trouble with executive pay, and the collapse of Bridging Finance, a private debt lender that fooled Bay Street — and won two. 

Tim also writes for Report on Business Magazine and his features have explored who killed Encana, the Canadian energy giant that used to rule Calgary, and Shopify’s misery once the pandemic bubble popped. Tim has been nominated for two national magazine awards, one for an investigation into Kevin O’Leary’s business history, and the other for the mess inside former mutual fund giant AGF. The latter won a silver medal. 

Before joining the Globe, Tim worked in fixed income sales and trading at RBC Dominion Securities and investment banking at National Bank Financial. 

The Head of Newsroom Development is a masthead position ensuring the skills, talent and culture of the newsroom keep The Globe thriving. I work across editorial, HR, revenue and finance to ensure that decisions around hiring, budget, and how our newsroom operates are aligned with our strategy and goals.

When Mokhtari joined ChargeLab, which creates EV charging software, it was seeing promising traction with a handful of early customers. There was just one problem: The tech wasn’t scalable. That precluded outside investment and, in turn, any major growth. Mokhtari changed all that. Drawing on his strong background in cybersecurity, including having co-invented two U.S. patents and published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, he completely re-engineered the platform to make it scalable—and did so without outsourcing engineering talent outside Canada. “I am driven by the desire to solve problems that improve people’s lives, whether by simplifying tasks or alleviating pain points,” he says. “Building solutions that bring order to complexity and create value for humanity is deeply satisfying.” 

Jennie Coleman is the President and owner of Equifruit and a passionate entrepreneur driven by a desire to use business as a mechanism for poverty alleviation and community development. She is focused on growth as a means to increase impact on fruit growers and plantation workers. Since acquiring Equifruit in 2013, volumes — and thus impact — have grown 10 times. 

She is a multilingual (EN, FR, DE, SP, dormant CH) communicator with extensive international experience, who is able to adapt to new cultures, industries, organizations and changing environments. She is comfortable managing risk and dealing with ambiguity. She leads her team with the vision of achieving “Global Fairtrade Banana Domination.” She works collaboratively with Equifruit’s Director, Sales & Marketing, and sets commercial strategy across geographic markets and products. She builds relationships with Fairtrade banana growers and leads the operations team to deliver quality fruit on time to customers. 

Karen Greve Young is the CEO of Futurpreneur, a national non-profit organization that has provided support to over 18,700+ young entrepreneurs across Canada since its establishment in 1996. With her extensive background in finance and strategy, Karen is an accomplished leader in the non-profit sector, committed to driving inclusive economic and social prosperity through innovative approaches and strategic partnerships. She leads a committed team at Futurpreneur, working to empower diverse young entrepreneurs and foster sustainable economic development within communities across Canada.  

Before joining Futurpreneur in 2018, Karen held the position of Vice President, Corporate Development & Partnerships at MaRS Discovery District, where she played a pivotal role in shaping corporate strategies, managing global innovation partnerships, and overseeing community engagement initiatives. Her earlier career encompasses various finance, management, and strategy roles in prominent organizations such as Bain & Company, Gap Inc., and the Institute of Cancer Research in San Francisco, New York, and London.  

Karen's passion for making a difference extends beyond her professional endeavors. She co-authored a book with her mother titled "Love You So Much, A Shared Memoir," documenting their journey through her mother's battle with ovarian cancer. Karen also serves as Chair on the Board of Ovarian Cancer Canada, further demonstrating her commitment to supporting important causes.  

She holds an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics from Harvard University.

Doug Nathanson is the Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer and General Counsel of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. In addition to heading the company’s legal function, Mr. Nathanson has leadership accountability for Real Estate, Corporate Strategy & Development, Strategic Sourcing, Communications & Corporate Affairs, Government Relations and Sustainability.   

Prior to joining Empire, Mr. Nathanson was General Counsel at Canadian Tire Corporation. He also served as Canadian Tire’s Chief Human Resources Officer.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Nathanson worked in Toronto and New York at major international law firms and served as a clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Mr. Nathanson serves on the Board of the Kids Help Phone and the Sinai Health Foundation. 

Dasha Sivkov is the Vice President of Product Content and Marketing at Wealthsimple, one of Canada’s fastest growing and most trusted financial institutions. Her team bridges the gap between product development, marketing strategy, and content creation. Her primary goal is to align Wealthsimple’s product offerings with effective marketing and content strategies to drive growth, engagement, and customer satisfaction.

Sandra E. Martin is the Standards Editor at The Globe and Mail. After graduating from the TMU School of Journalism in 1992, Martin returned in 2018 to teach editing essentials, feature writing, and, magazine editing with the late Stephen Trumper. 

Martin has held some of the most senior positions in Canadian journalism. In 2021, Martin became the head of the newsroom development for the Globe and Mail responsible for staff training and management. Martin also worked alongside newsroom managers to determine current and future training and development needs.

She’s also served as editor-in-chief for Rogers Media, Money Sense and Canadian Living magazines.

Robyn Doolittle is an award-winning journalist and author. She is The Globe and Mail's corporate law reporter, and a former long-time member of the newspaper's investigative team. Since coming to The Globe in 2014, she has investigated political and business corruption, the Hockey Canada scandal and Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her “Unfounded” series, which exposed the ways that Canadian police services mishandle sexual assault cases, prompted a national overhaul of policy, training and practices around sexual violence.

Doolittle’s other notable projects include the “Power Gap”, an investigation of gender inequities in the workforce, and “Secret Canada,” which examines Canada’s broken freedom of information system.

She is the author of two books, “Had It Coming – What’s Fair In The Age of #MeToo?,” which was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction, and “Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story,” both of which were national bestsellers.